ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
Spanish thriller The Preacher themed on betrayal and fraud in the name of faith sees World Premiere at IFFI 52
Panaji, 24 November 2021
The Preacher is a suspense thriller on the organised exploitation of innocent believers by faith-healers and scamsters. It is story of intrigue and fanaticism, in a city in which professed faith mixes well with corruption and fraud.
Through this film I have been trying to invite the attention of the people to a subject which has universal appeal: These were the words by Tito Jara, director of the IFFI 52 World Premiere film. He was having an interaction with media on the side-lines of the 52nd International Film Festival of India, being held in Goa. Jara was joined by Producer Magda Grace in the media interaction.
“Since being a believer myself, my movie is not against any religion, but those dark elements who are playing with the lives and emotions of innocent people whose only fault is that they seek miracles in despair when they run out of hope,” the Director said.
Adding that religion is an easy subject to take offence to, Jara explained, “We are not trying to create any controversy with this film. My movie is against the people who take advantage in the name of religion.”
“I understand that people are sensitive about religion, but I believe we can have a nice conversation on the subject,” Jara said expressing hope.
The film, based on real life events, tries to portray the story of a little girl who is being used by a swindler by making people believe that she is a “blessed one" who can heal sick and give solace to troubled minds.
“During the course of the making of the film which took me 9 years, I have met many such miracle makers and swindlers. This movie is real account of what is happening in my country,” said Jara who is from Ecuador.
Asserting that such types of preachers, scamsters and organised gangs can be found in any part of the world, Jara said that he believes this movie will pave way for some different views and discussions on the subject. “I want people to ask among themselves, how as a human one can do such things to people who are innocent believers,” he exhorts.
The movie which was shot in Spain mostly, is a joint collaboration by Ecuador, Spain and Columbia.
Expressing happiness over having the film’s world premiere at IFFI, Jara, who is also the Writer, Editor and Producer of the film, said that the experience had been really amazing. “I feel very humbled to be here. It is quite unbelievable for me. I am so happy that the movie is well appreciated by the audience.”TEAM IFFI PIB | NT/SKY/DR/IFFI-72
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Prime Minister's Office
PM to inaugurate the first-ever National Training Conclave
Representatives from civil services training institutes across the country will participate in the Conclave
Conclave to foster collaboration among training institutes and help strengthen the training infrastructure for civil servants across the country
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first-ever National Training Conclave at the International Exhibition and Convention Centre Pragati Maidan, New Delhi on 11th June, 2023 at 10:30 AM. Prime Minister will also address the gathering on the occasion.
Prime Minister has been a proponent of improving the governance process and policy implementation in the country through capacity building of civil service. Guided by this vision, the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building  – ‘Mission Karmayogi’ was launched to prepare a future-ready civil service with the right attitude, skills and knowledge. This Conclave is yet another step in this direction.
The National Training Conclave is being hosted by Capacity Building Commission with an objective to foster collaboration among civil services training institutes and strengthen the training infrastructure for civil servants across the country.
More than 1500 representatives from training institutes, including Central Training Institutes, State Administrative Training Institutes, Regional and Zonal Training Institutes, and Research institutes will participate in the conclave. Civil Servants from central government departments, state governments, local governments, as well as experts from the private sector will take part in the deliberations.
This diverse gathering will foster the exchange of ideas, identify the challenges being faced and opportunities available, and generate actionable solutions and comprehensive strategies for capacity building. The conclave will have eight panel discussions, each focusing on key concerns pertinent to Civil services training institutes such as faculty development, training impact assessment and content digitisation, among others.
Competition Commission of India
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurates Competition Commission of India’s Regional Office  in Mumbai
Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, inaugurated the Competition Commission of India’s  Regional Office  in Mumbai, here today in a virtual event. Union Minister of State for Ministry of Corporate Affairs Shri Rao Inderjit Singh also graced the occasion with his presence via video conference.
The Regional Office  in Mumbai is the third regional office opened by CCI, after Regional Office  in Chennai  and Regional Office  in Kolkata .
In her address, Smt. Sitharaman, congratulated CCI for opening regional office in Mumbai and remarked that easy access of CCI to businesses is important for facilitating ease of doing business. The Finance Minister also complimented CCI for publishing its advocacy booklets in various regional languages and added that such steps empower people in having better access to the regulator. On rapidly evolving digital markets, Smt. Sitharaman stressed on the need to address the competition issues arising out of them, by benchmarking against best practices at the global level. The Finance Minister said that a proactive CCI brings in confidence in the minds of people who want to access it for relief and will help people well prior to issues going out of hand.
On this occasion, Smt. Sitharaman also released a pictorial e-publication titled “Competition Commission of India - A Journey Through the Years, 2009 – 2022”, which documents the formative years of CCI and takes stock of the various measures, events and actions that have helped shape this journey. The Finance Minister also released CCI’s competition advocacy booklets translated in Urdu and Punjabi languages. These Booklets, contain information on topics such as - How to File information with CCI, Cartels, Bid Rigging, Abuse of Dominance, Combinations, Leniency etc. Apart from Urdu and Punjabi languages, these booklets have also been earlier translated into 11 other languages i.e. Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Assamese, Gujarati, and Odia, Hindi and English.
During the event, Shri Ashok Kumar Gupta, Chairperson CCI remarked that in a country as vast and diverse as India, setting up regional offices has been a key step towards competition enforcement. He highlighted that CCI’s presence at the financial hub of the country will provide ease of accessibility to numerous stakeholders, augment advocacy outreach in this region, and fulfil a longstanding demand of stakeholders.
The event concluded with a vote of thanks, delivered by Smt. Jyoti Jindgar Bhanot, Secretary , CCI.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
IEPF Authority invites comments from stakeholders for simplifying claims refund process
The Investor Education & Protection Fund Authority  invites comments from all stakeholders to simplify and expedite claims settlement process.
The suggestions may be offered through:
- eConsultation module available at MCA website www.mca.gov.in
- via email at iepfa.consultation@mca.gov.in.
The last date for receiving comments is January 27, 2023. The Notice inviting comments and the Consultation paper have been uploaded at the website of the Authority www.iepf.gov.in .
About IEPF Authority
IEPF Authority has been established under sub-section  of section 125 of Companies Act, 2013 with the objective of promoting Investor Education, Awareness and Protection and for administration of the IEPF fund. It has undertaken a wide gamut of activities to accelerate the pace of investor education among the masses at large.
Ministry of Railways
Joint Venture of Railways with Foreign Companies
Agreements have been signed with ALSTOM  and General Electric  for manufacturing and maintenance of electric and diesel locomotives. As per contract 800 electric locomotives and 1000 diesel locomotives are to be manufactured and supplied from the factory set up by the companies at Madhepura  and Marhowra  respectively over a period of 11 years. Two Joint Venture  companies have been set up for this purpose. Ministry of Railways is a 26% stakeholder in these two JV companies. The companies would also undertake maintenance/supervision of the first 500 locomotives by setting up maintenance facilities at Saharanpur, Nagpur, Roza and Ghandhidham.
The project envisages transfer of technology for maintenance to Indian Railway staff in terms of providing benchmarking of maintenance facilities as well as global practices in undertaking maintenance of these locomotives. The maintenance facilities would revert back to the Indian Railways on completion of the maintenance obligations following which the maintenance would be carried out by Indian Railways staff. These projects were approved by the Cabinet in 2010 and subsequently the bidding documents were also approved by the Cabinet in 2014. The companies were selected through an international competitive bidding process. Compliance to the requirement of national security and public interest is a part of the eligibility criteria.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion  of Government of India had issued the consolidated Foreign Direct Investment  Policy which allows FDI in Railway Infrastructure sector on automatic route in the areas namely :-
 Suburban corridor projects through PPP;
 High speed train project;
 Dedicated freight lines;
 Rolling stock including train sets and locomotive/coaches manufacturing and maintenance facilities;
 Railway Electrification;
 Signalling systems;
 Passenger terminals;
Infrastructure in industrial part pertaining to railway line/sidings including electrified railway lines and connectivities to main railway line; and
 Mass Rapid Transport Systems.
Further, the Indian Railways undertakes outsourcing of certain facilities like cleaning, pay and use toilets, retiring rooms, parking etc. on need based manner to improve efficiency.
Interest of the railway staff is taken into consideration while outsourcing.
This information was given by the Minister of State of Railways Shri Rajen Gohain in
a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Home Affairs
Union Home Minister chairs High Level Committee meeting for Central assistance to Manipur, Mizoram and Kerala
The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting of the High Level Committee  here today for Central Assistance to the States of Manipur, Mizoram in the wake of flood, landslides and to Kerala in the wake of drought  of 2016-17.
The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Home Secretary, Shri Rajiv Gauba and senior officers of the Ministries of Home, Finance, Agriculture and Niti Aayog attended the meeting.
The HLC approved the assistance of Rs. 130.65 crore from National Disaster Relief Fund  in respect of state of Manipur. The HLC also approved Rs 49.02 crore for the state of Mizoram, including Rs 42.77 crore from the NDRF and Rs 6.25 crore from National Rural Drinking Water Programme . The Committee also approved Rs.125.47 crore in respect of Kerala, including Rs 112.05 crore from the NDRF and Rs 13.42 crore from NRDWP.
Ministry of Defence
FUNDS FOR DEFENCE MODERNISATION
An amount of Rs. 90,048 crore has been allocated for Capital Acquisition  in BE 2020-21 under Defence Service Estimates which is an increase of Rs. 9,088.92 crore over BE 2019-20 allocations. The total amount allocated for Capital Acquisition  is 27.87% of Defence Services Estimates.
Government is taking measures for modernisation of Armed Forces, through procurement of new equipment and upgrading of existing equipment and systems. The modernization projects are being progressed as per approved capital acquisition plan and in terms of extant Defence Procurement Procedure.
This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Naik in a written reply to Shri P Bhattacharya and Shri Vijay Pal Singh Tomar in Rajya Sabha today.
ABB/Nampi/KA/DK
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Ministry of Finance
CBDT clarifies differential regime between domestic investors  and FPIs existed even prior to General Budget 2019 and was not creation of the Finance  Act, 2019
The Central Board of Direct Taxes  said today that an incorrect perception is being created in a section of media as if announcements made by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, in a press conference on 23rd August 2019, which brought in a number of responsive structural measures to boost up the economy, have created a differential regime between FPIs and domestic investors including AIF category III.
Dispelling this false impression being created in certain sections of media including social media, CBDT said that differential regime between domestic investors  and FPIs existed even prior to the General Budget 2019 and was therefore not the creation of the Finance  Act, 2019 or the announcement made by the Finance Ministry on 23rd August 2019.
In this regard, CBDT has further stated that in case of Foreign Institutional Investors , Income Tax Act, 1961  contains special provisions [section 115AD read with section 2 of the Act] for taxation of income from derivatives. Under this regime, income of FPIs arising from derivatives was treated as capital gains and liable for special rate of tax as per section 115AD of the Act. However, income arising from derivatives for the domestic investors including Alternative Investment Funds  category-III as well as for foreign investors who are not FPIs, has always been treated as business income and not as capital gains, and taxed at applicable normal income tax rates. The differential regime therefore already existed for FPIs through Section 115 AD. Therefore, to say that General Budget 2019 or FM’s announcement on 23rd August 2019 created a differential regime between FPI and domestic investor is incorrect.
PIB Headquarters
Launch of IOB Health Care Plus Insurance Policy
Indian Overseas Bank launched an upgraded Health Care Plus Insurance Policy specifically to its customers through M/s Universal Sompo General Insurance Co Ltd.
The Health care policy is a co- branded Insurance scheme exclusively designed by Universal Sompo General Insurance company to IOB Customers with a Sum Insured starting from Rs. 50,000 and going up to Rs. 15 Lakhs.
The policy issuance has made on a real – time basis at the IOB Bank branches to its customers through integration of technology of the two institutions.
Shri. Karnam Sekar, MD & CEO of IOB along with Shri. K.Swaminathan & Shri. Ajay Kumar Srivastava, Executive Directors of IOB and Shri. O.N.Singh, Chairman Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Ltd lancing the Insurance product on 24.10.2019 at IOB, Central Office.
Indian Overseas Bank Health Care Plus Policy , is a one of its kind family floater facility where the premium is charged as per the age of the proposer with no medical check-up up to the age of 50.
The product was launched by Shri. Karnam Sekar, MD & CEO of IOB in the presence of Shri. O N Singh, Chairman- Universal Sompo General Insurance Co Ltd. Top officials of the Bank and the Insurance company were present in the occasion.
Commenting on the launch of the product IOB Health Care Plus Policy, Shri. Karnam Sekar, MD & CEO of IOB stated that “We are extremely delighted to offer our products to our customers by harnessing technology tools to minimize the waiting period of issuing a policy to bank customers”, according to a press release issued by the IOB, Chennai.
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Prime Minister's Office
PM shares glimpses from today's Padma Awards ceremony
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has shared some glimpses from today's Padma Awards ceremony in which distinguished people from different walks of life were conferred with the awards.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said;
"Glimpses from today’s ceremony in which Padma Awards were conferred on distinguished people from different walks of life."
Ministry of Power
Har Ghar Ujala : 2.2 crore LED bulbs distributed in Maharashtra under the UJALA Scheme
Pune leads the way, followed by Nagpur and Kolhapur
Leads to Rs 1,140 crore saving on electricity bills by households in Maharashtra
: Mumbai, July 15, 2022
The UJALA scheme launched by the Government of India aimed at energy conservation has witnessed brisk progress across the country, including Maharashtra.
UJALA, an acronym for Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LED lights for All, was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in January 2015, and till date 36.86 crore LED bulbs have been distributed in the country leading to energy saving of 47,876 million kWh of electricity. As per the data available till today, nearly 2.2 crore LED bulbs have been distributed in Maharashtra, which puts it in the category of best performing states along with Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
While 30.49 lakh affordable LED bulbs have been distributed in Pune metropolitan area, 14.81 LEDs have been distributed in Nagpur and 12.48 lakh LED bulbs distributed in Kolhapur. While 10 lakh LED bulbs have been distributed in Mumbai, Kalyan has distributed 10.77 lakh LED bulbs. Apart from LED bulbs, more than 1.86 lakh fans and 5.31 lakh tube-lights have also been distributed in Maharashtra till June, 2022 under the UJALA scheme.
The UJALA scheme can be said to have changed the lives of people in Maharashtra by improving their quality of life, generating prosperity in local communities and in expanding energy access to all. The mass adoption of LED bulbs has helped bring down the peak electricity demand in the state by 572 Mega Watts. It is estimated that the implementation of this scheme has resulted in approximately Rs 19,000 crore saving in electricity bills across the country and around Rs 1,140 crore per year in Maharashtra.
The launch of UJALA scheme has directly resulted in bringing down the cost of LED bulbs from Rs. 300-350 per bulb in 2014 to around Rs 70-80 per bulb in a short span of time. Furthermore, the switch from incandescent bulbs to LEDs is helping families reduce their electricity bills, while also enabling them to enjoy better brightness at their homes.
The Power Ministry scheme, implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd has become the world’s largest zero subsidy domestic lighting programme that addresses the twin issues of high electricity cost and reducing carbon emission.
Election Commission
ECI holds round table conference with former CECs/ECs
Election Commission of India today held a round table conference with former CECs/ECs. The consultation meeting was attended by former CECs S/Shri M.S.Gill, J.M.Lyngdoh, T.S.Krishna Murthy, B.B.Tandon, Dr. S.Y.Quraishi, V.S. Sampath, H.R. Bramha, Dr. Nasim Zaidi and former EC GVG Krishnamurty.
Chief Election Commissioner Shri O.P.Rawat, Election Commissioners Shri Sunil Arora and Shri Ashok Lavasa, welcomed all former CECs/ECs present. The invitees lauded the Commission for this initiative and expressed the hope that such consultations would become a regular feature.
The deliberations focused on following aspects of electoral management:
- It was noted that universal use of EVM/VVPAT is a commendable initiative. It was opined that Awareness programmes should be extended to educate all the voters about its benefits. This will help in avoiding any controversy about its use.
- It was noticed that hate speeches are being used during campaigns which vitiate the political atmosphere. There is an urgent need to control such speeches in larger public interest.
- It was deliberated to analyse the duration of polls so that the number of phases is reduced. The lesser number of phases will reduce the period of MCC it was noted, which has its implications in multiple phases of elections.
- The ERO-net was well appreciated. However, the process of voter registration can further be eased after taking cues for the models of voter registration in other successful democracies.
During the meeting, Sr DEC Shri Umesh Sinha also gave a glimpse of current initiatives undertaken by the Commission like Electoral Literacy Clubs, ERO-Net, RO-Net, Grievance Redressal System etc.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
MCA allows companies to hold Annual General Meetings  through VC or OAVM
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs  vide its General Circular No. 18/2020, dated 21.04.2020 has already allowed the companies whose financial year ended on 31st December, 2019, to hold their AGM by 30th September, 2020.
However on account of need for continuous adherence to the social distancing norms and restrictions placed on movement of persons, it has become necessary and hence it has been decided to allow companies to hold their annual general meeting  by Video Conferencing  or other audio visual means  during the calendar year 2020. Accordingly, the General Circular No: 20/2020 has been issued today for this purpose.
The framework provided in the earlier Circulars for holding of extraordinary general meeting  would be applicable mutatis mutandis for conduct of AGMs during 2020, based on the classification of companies which are required to:  provide the facility of e-voting or have opted for the same, and  those companies which are not required to provide such a facility.
Owing to the difficulties in sending physical copies of the financial statements, the Circular allows the companies to send the financial statements, along with Board’s reports, Auditor’s reports and other documents required to be attached therewith, only through email. The companies are also required to provide a window to the shareholders for registering their mandate for transferring dividends electronically to them through the Electronic Clearing Service  or any other means.
The measure has been taken to facilitate Companies to conduct their ordinary & special business through AGMs conducted by leveraging the Digital India platforms. The circular is available at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/Circular20_05052020.pdf